International Incidents? I thought this was about Footy
June 8, 2007 by f4denz.
OK, so for those who have not checked out the topic on our forum (http://roguecavaliers.freeforums.org/)
I will attempt to recreate the events of last nights RSL vs. Chinese National Team, I promise this is a best effort to report the events honestly and fairly.
A typical prematch tailgate, some pizza, a little beer, and making fun of players names (too easy with a guy named Wang Dong). What was not typical was the very large vehicle in the lot with the letters FBI on the front of it, and did not stand for the Federal Broadcast Institute. While the boys and girls of the RCB were a little slow getting into RSL, when the arrived in time for the US National Anthem, they did so with typical flair expected of the boys in black.
Once the match began, the “Defect Here” sign came out and within 4-5 minutes a request from Trino (RSL head of operations) to take it down, was respectfully filled and down it came. Through out the first half the “glitter brow Mao” masks made several appearances, including handing one to a member of the CMNT staff, who laughed and thought it was funny, he did not recoil in terror, he did not rip it up, he did not throw it away, he took it back to his locker room. No major issues with the masks (see them here: http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f358/f4denz/china%20match/DSC00142.jpg ).
So the first half featured more action on the pitch than in the stands, in my opinion the way it should be, some great runs by Jamie Watson. Add in Chris Seitz making some incredible saves, Atiba Harris playing D-Mid and not doing too badly at it, and then add in a solid effort by Andy Williams and the rest of the “starting lineup”. There were a number of RCB scarves handed out to members of the CMNT, that happened to walk by section 38, I thought this was a effort at sports diplomacy, but I found out later that it was not and I am still not sure what it was? The scoreboard showed a too typical 0-0 at the half, go figure.
During the intermission at the break, a group of 5-6 guys with the national flag of Tibet came down to join us. I get a feeling that they felt a bit “threatened” by the large number of Chinese liaison people and their travelling fan base (out of a population of 2 billion they brought 30-40). Once they were embraced by the RCB as almost all visitors are, they pulled out their flags and held them up. We chimed in with a “free tibet” chant and a version of “we all cheer for basic human rights” and knowing that we had a Tibetian flag in reserve, out it came and into the air it went. This again was fun but did not seem to send anyone over the edge, no one demanded they be put away or taken down. To be honest, since no nation in the world recognizes the “nation of Tibet”, it tends not to offend China too much when people voice their opinion on this matter.
It was about the same time that a small 2×3 sign with the chinese characters for 6-4 (the date in 1989 that the Chinese gov’t slaughtered thousands of their own citizens for demonstrating at a sit in for freedom and democracy, that too did not seem to put anyone over the huge edge, but soon that was all to change.
About minute 60-65 of the match a the national flag of Taiwan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China), was raised and waved as a symbol of solidarity and freedom for the island nation that is an ally of the United States. The person who raised the flag is one who is a strong anti-communist and advocate of human rights, who happens to also be a member of the RCB. It was this event that was the cornerstone of all the events that were about to happen and what an interesting snowball the next 25-30 minutes.
Once #3 - Zhang Shuai of the CNMT noticed either the sign or the Taiwanese flag, I believe it was the latter and stopped the play and picked up the ball: http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f358/f4denz/china%20match/?action=view¤t=DSC00157.jpg it was at that time that the front office staff of RSL asked us to take down all flags, and pulled down the 6-4 sign. After some debate, the flags were put away and the match continued. During the debate we were told that unless the flags and sign were down that the Chinese team would not continue. The desired effect of the RCB is always to cause the other team to spend their time and energy focusing on us rather than the match at hand, boy did we hit a freakin home run last night. With our point made and soon enough it had the impact we always desire, our boys took the lead in the match with what would be the only goal of the match. Was it caused by our ruckus? I am not sure but boy we like to think we did our part as fans to help our team. But the events of the night were not over even with all this action, there was more to come.
About minute 85, the guys from Tibet decided they were ready to finish their statement by bringing out the flag of Tibet for another round of controversy, at this point “Frank” from the RCB chose to participate by waving his Tibet flag with the others. At this point RES and RSL staff reacted (I did not notice a big reaction at this point from the Chinese officials or players) by informing the 3 people that they either had to surrender their flags or leave the stadium. I am proud to say that all 3 stuck to their guns and chose to be escorted out of the stadium. So if you think that is the end of the story you are still wrong, even another chapter was to be written in the last few minutes of the match.
That is when “Donk” a proud member of Amnesty International chose to bring out the real cause of all the controversy, the national flag of Taiwan. With his two year old daughter in his arms and the flag in one hand, he flew the flag proudly for the last couple minutes of the match and on his way out after the match (closely followed by security and a couple guys who looked like they were part of the “liaison” group that follows the national team of China everywhere they go.
That is the story of the events as I saw them last night and each person in life gets to make choices, I am proud of those in the RCB who chose to express their opinions in a non-violent, non-invasive matter. They knew that their actions would cause a reaction and they were willing to pay that price.
off my soap box
